The present invention generally relates to flexible intermediate bulk containers for the transport and discharge of flowable goods, commonly referred to as xe2x80x9cbulk bagsxe2x80x9d. More specifically, the present invention relates to those bulk bags in which a means for discharging the goods from the bag is releasably secured to the side of the bag for transport, hereinafter the xe2x80x9cside discharge bulk bagsxe2x80x9d.
Various forms of bulk bags are known in the field of transportation of flowable goods, whether foodstuffs such as rice, sugar and the like or chemical products such as titanium dioxide pigments. Such bulk bags are typically made of strong flexible fabric capable of supporting a heavy weight of such goods without rupturing. Such bags may be equipped with strong lifting loops. Such bags may have strong webbing reinforcing the fabric. Typically such bags have closable openings at the top and bottom, with the top opening normally being used to fill the bag with the flowable goods and the bottom opening normally being used to discharge the goods from the bag.
Discharge of the material from the bag is normally accomplished by lifting the bag by lifting loops provided at the top end of the bag, suspending the bag via the lifting loops over a receiving container, for example, a hopper equipped with an auger for moving the goods from the hopper to a continuous process, and then releasing the goods into the receiving container by the discharge means provided.
A typical discharge means may be a flap of material associated with the bottom of the bag which is folded over the bottom, discharge opening during transport of the goods, but which is released when discharge is desired. A more favored discharge means includes a closable discharge chute or spout associated with the bottom of the bag and which is secured to the bag""s side in transport, but released and opened when discharge of the goods is desired.
As related in U.S. Pat. No. 6,431,753 B1 (Rogers et al.), various attempts have been made over time to provide discharge means (in side discharge bags) that are sufficiently secure as to avoid loss of the goods in transit, but which can nevertheless be remotely actuated with ease to effect a purposeful discharge of the goods from the bag.
In keeping with these objectives, the ""753 Rogers et al. patent (hereafter, the ""753 patent) proposes side discharge bags wherein a discharge means associated with the bottom of the bag and including a plurality of first loops of fabric is folded to a side of the bag and releasably held in place by being xe2x80x9cinterlockedxe2x80x9d with second fabric loops having a first end attached to the side of the bag and a second end releasably attached to the first end through, for example, a conventional hook-and-loop style closure. In preferred embodiments, and with particular reference now to FIG. 1 and especially FIG. 2 (Prior Art), the bag is secured against inadvertent discharge of the goods therein in transit by transversely disposed, also releasable locking loops 204 which are secured over the sets of first and second loops 202 and 203, respectively, after these have been interlocked. The bag shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 further includes a closable discharge spout which is equipped with a drawstring 301, the excess length of which (when the discharge chute is closed) is secured against the bag side 101 by a strap of material 303 having one end attached to the bag side 101 and a second end again releasably attached to the first end.
The strap of material 303 is positioned such that the excess drawstring length is preferably covered by the discharge chute when the bag and its contents are secured for transport, and the drawstring 301 is maintained in a closed, tightened condition by a rope lock (B-loc) 304. Rope lock 304 is described as remotely releasable by lanyard 305 when it is desired to discharge the goods from the bag.
The present invention provides an improved bulk bag, wherein the discharge means is held more securely in place prior to use of the same for discharging the flowable goods from the bag. Fundamentally, interlockable first and second loops associated with the discharge end and side of the bag, respectively, are secured after being interlocked through releasable engagement of a second loop in such combination with a strap having a first end securely attached to the bag side above the interlocked first and second loops and having a second end which is releasably attached to the second loop in an interlocked condition of the first and second loops.
By this arrangement, the means for securing or locking the first and second loops in an interlocked condition, namely the strap, is not as exposed (in contrast with the ""753 patent""s transverse locking loops) to being caught and inadvertently opened or disengaged as the bag is lifted or lowered by the lifting loops, and the strap by its attachment to the second loop provides reinforcement of the hook and loop closure by which the second loop has been formed, in relation to the stress placed thereon by the weight of the goods in the bag (the ends of transverse locking loops 204 in the ""753 patent are described as releasably attached to one another, but there is no suggestion of a releasable attachment to the second loops 203).